If you have turned the TV on and casually flipped the channels past some news and sports channels, chances are that you had been seeing that Manny Ramirez has been the hot topic of discussion. Most importantly, if you are living in the New England area, you were probably plagued with a “Breaking News” report on the story. Of course, as with any sport related report, there are mixed opinions up the wazoo. Bottom line:
The Ramirez Trade: Good For Boston’s Composure; Possibly Bad for Boston’s WS Run
Good For LA’s WS Run; Bad For LA’s Composure.
Let’s face it; I am a Boston fan….and lets face it, they are right when they say that Boston fan’s are ruthless. Talk to majority of Boston fans, and you will hear phrases such as “good riddance”, “finally”, and “I never liked his attitude anyway.” Heck, if you were watching last night’s game you probably even heard the famous voice of Jerry Remy state that he is tired of the situation and the Red Sox should just let him go and be done with it. Chances are, the next time he comes back, he will be Boo’ed and heckled…but that should come as no surprise, just look at what happened to Johnny Damon.
All day I have been hearing comments and jokes about how the Red Sox are going to suck now because Manny is gone…tell a Yankee fan that they would be the worst team in baseball without A-Rod and you may just get your ear talked off with the “its not a one man sport” chatter. Now granted if you came and watched a Sox game with me, you would have definately heard chants of “Manny” coming out of my mouth, but with a guy like that you almost need to “suck up” to ensure that he is going to play to his fullest potential…don’t we all remember his quote:
Forget about the trade, man. This is the place I want to be, man. It’s great, man. They love me here, man. This is the place to be. ‘Manny being Manny,’ he’s great, man… we’ve been through a lot, this is the place for me, I’m just happy to be here… I’m back!
This coming during a time that he was Boo’d two games straight for talking about getting out of Boston…but then after recieving a standing ovation when he needed him to get some runs. Then again, we are talking about a guy who has the attention span of a 4 year old child in the middle of a toy store. Lets look at his most note-able “changes in attitude”
December ‘01 – In his first season with Boston he claimed he was uncomfortable, and wanted his own room so that he could ease his way into the group
August ‘03 – He stated that he would like to go play for the Yankees
September ‘03 – Benched for a game because he refused to pinch hit
July ‘05 – More trade talks, stating he doesn’t want to be in Boston
October ‘07 – Stated that loosing a chance at the World Series wouldn’t be the end of the world
In any sport, you are motivated by your peers, and just imagine being on a team with a person who is always talking about leaving, speaking to the media about how he hates it here, and finding ways out of playing. Again, to put it in bigger perspective, A-Rod is commended for his composure during all of the recent media exposure….do you think the team would be doing as well if A-Rod showed up at the clubhouse upset, talking about not playing, stating that he hates living in NY? Again, I use A-Rod not to express my distaste, but because he is on the other side of the spectrum when compared to Manny.
April ‘94 – As a rookie, hits a ground rule double, but runs the bases as if he hit a home run and was eventually tagged out
July ‘04 – Cuts off a throw from Damon, allowing a critical run to score for the opposing team
April ‘05 – In a bases loaded situation, Manny hits what would have been a single, but because of his lack of effort in running to first base, a double play is turned and the inning ended
October ‘07 – Hits a long double, but stands at the plate, watching what he thought would be a home run, thus getting a late start and grabbing a single base on a double base depth ball
July ‘08 – After making an attempt for a diving catch on a would-be-single, Manny looses sight of the ball, and rolls around trying to find it. Upon finding the ball, he casually rolls the ball into the infield while laughing, thus turning a triple out of a single-depth ball
Manny is a great player, no doubt about that, but sometimes motivating a team to win championships isn’t all about the hitting, but moreso about leadership. If Manny is the reason that we won Championships…imagine what we could do with someone who actually focuses more on playing the game, rather than having the game revolve around him…..will we possibly get our answer with Jason Bay?
Bay:
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
106 393 72 111 23 2 22 64 59 86 7 0 .282 .375 .519 .894Manny:
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
100 365 66 109 22 1 20 68 52 86 1 0 .299 .398 .529 .926
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